


Musketeers Three Versus Total Insanity

by Goffy



Category: Cirque du Freak | The Saga of Darren Shan - Darren Shan
Genre: Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Drama, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Magic, Multi, Mystery, romcom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:01:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26174644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goffy/pseuds/Goffy
Summary: Crack fic. College AU. Inspired by The Sims. Yes, you read that right. Sims. Names of places/events are also straight up borrowed from the game because I have zero creativity when it comes to naming.
Relationships: Lady Evanna/Gannen Harst/Vancha March, Larten Crepsley/Arra Sails, Steve "Leopard" Leonard/Darren Shan, oc/canon too, other - Relationship
Kudos: 6





	Musketeers Three Versus Total Insanity

Darren Shan was not the type to have done all the things he had done last night.

He was convinced some other-worldly entity had possessed him at the party, because the things the screen of his phone was showing him were just. not. him. Drunk or not, he'd never fucking act like that. Besides, he hadn't even had much to drink! So the fact that he had gotten that inebriated made no sense, because last he knew, his tolerance wasn't this low.

And normally, one might stop obsessively filtering through all the Instagram posts on their feed, especially if they knew humiliating videos of them were being posted and passed around by almost everyone they knew, but Darren Shan had never been normal. He was weird, and not in the quirky, "I'm so special way", he was weird in the sense that people would rather avoid him. The only reason he was well-known and had a large friend circle was because of his childhood best friend (who was equally as weird, if not more, but he knew how to hide his inner freak around other people so boom! Popular.) A deep groan rumbled from Darren's throat as he scrolled past all the comments on a video about him. The shame eventually turned to rage as his eyes swept across the screen. He was not that mad at the commenters than he was at the "friends" that had posted that shit, because who in their right fucking mind sees a bloke absolutely losing it, decides to film the damn thing AND put it online?

It occurred to him that his parents might have seen everything. They weren't very active on Instagram, but Darren had nosy relatives that just loved butting into other people's business. He honestly wouldn't have been surprised if links had been sent to the Facebook family group, with emoji-decorated captions that read, "Dermot, is this what your son is doing already? He's only been gone two weeks and college has barely started (insert six exclamation points)" Darren could imagine the expressions on his parents faces if that happened, it would be especially bad for his mother because Darren's bitchy aunt Karen was always trying to find reasons to shit on Angela. Sometimes Karen targeted Angela's parental skills and sometimes she scrutinized the very manner in which Angela existed. What a bitch. 

The occurring thought prompted Darren to open Facebook and hesitantly check the family group-chat. He sighed with relief. No messages ever since Uncle Frank had a meltdown about how the aliens were controlling the minds of the youth to make them stray from Jesus's path. Darren was too fucking hungover to even try to unpack the first sentence of the rant. 

Eventually, the throbbing in his temples convinced him to tear his eyes off the screen and throw the phone away. Now that he was no longer immersed in madly refreshing his Instagram feed to monitor what else was being posted about him, his attention shifted to his body; he was suddenly aware of the fact that he was still dressed in his party clothes, drenched in sweat, and for some god-forsaken reason he was sticky and- cherry on top- he smelled horribly of a hybrid between a sock that hadn't been washed in eternity and a dying, feral skunk. Of course, this sudden observation only served to further worsen the nausea beginning to grow like an unwanted child in the pit of his stomach, and he would rather die than smell himself for another second, so Darren was staggering up and out of the bed and stumbling towards the bathroom right outside his room. 

The bath made him feel better. He begrudgingly tossed the party clothes into the laundry basket and slipped into a simple white tee and grey sweatpants before venturing out of the bathroom to see just how damaged the house was after last night's fiasco. 

As he neared the living room at the end of the hall, he heard the familiar intro of a show he was quite fond of. The obvious implication that his roommate was awake at such an hour and watching television was shocking to the point where he didn't believe it of course, he assumed somebody had just left the TV on, but upon walking into the lounge he found out he was wrong. Steve Leonard was up and actually looked fresh, he was also somehow eating a bowl of cereal (the sight of which made Darren want to puke his insides out).

"Steve?"

Steve turned to look at his best friend. His face twisted with disgust.

"Ew, you look like you died or something."

"I know, dickface. How come you don't?"

Darren bit back, slowly making his way over to the worn-out couch that would probably turn to dust at any given moment.

"Because I didn't touch that shitty punch you made last night. The hell did you put in there anyway? Everyone who drank it went bat-shit crazy."

Darren didn't answer, instead he curled up on the couch and groaned, feeling another wave of nausea hit him. An unseen force of great magnitude was pushing at his skull from either side so it would collapse into itself, and his brain was thudding against his head trying to be free, and the TV was way too loud-

Wait, punch?

"What was wrong with the punch? It was fine." Darren asked as he snatched the TV remote from Steve's hand and lowered the volume. Steve stared at him for a moment before snatching it back.

"What did you put in it?"

Darren tried to remember. Well, Candy helped him modify it. It had been his first time making punch, and Candy offered to try it before anyone else so they could alter the taste if need be. Candy was a pro at that kind of stuff. She had tasted it and said it lacked "flavor". He couldn't recall what exactly they put in there, but it was a bunch of stuff she kept adding and Darren just let her do it because the kitchen was crowded and dark and he was busy being hyped. In hindsight, that was extremely stupid of him and it was kind of his fault that everyone had gone mad. So he decided to not mention it at all.

"What people normally do, duh." Darren said dismissively, to which Steve responded with a sarcastic "Hmm, right."  
After Steve was done with his bowl of cereal he got up and left for the kitchen. About fifteen minutes later he came out with a glass of water, a sandwich and an ibuprofen, all set neatly in a tray.

"Here."

They really weren't the type to take care of each other unless one of them was absolutely dying, and while the two boys bitched and fought like, all the time, their friendship really came through in trying times such as these. 

A very grateful Darren nodded to Steve before uncurling and diving right in. Despite the nausea, he was pretty hungry. Steve slapped the back of Darren's head lightly before disappearing into the hall that lead to their bedrooms. He was gone for a while, long enough for Darren to finish eating, take the medicine and lay back down on the couch to rest his eyes. A minute or two had gone by when Darren's moment of peace was interrupted by heavy, rushed footsteps. Steve ran into the living room just as Darren was sitting up.

He looked terrified.

"What's wrong?" Darren asked, forgetting his squeamish stomach and standing up a little too quickly. Bile rushed up his esophagus. He put a hand to his mouth but there was no need for it, as the contents that had come rushing up were now sinking back down. Steve hadn't noticed because he was too busy panicking about whatever he was panicking about.

"There's a chic in my bedroom!"

Okay, so for a girl to be in Steve's bedroom was not a big deal. Unfortunately for Darren, he had to deal with shit like that quite frequently. But since when was Steve not in favor of a girl in his bedroom? Probably a horrible one night stand.  
Seriously, Darren had to get all concerned and almost puked again just because Steve couldn't remember the face of whoever he had hooked up with last night?

"So what? Aren't you used to that?"

"No! I've never seen her before, I don't know who she is. And I didn't go in my bedroom all night last night- that part I remember vividly, because me and this random girl in a ponytail fucked in the kitchen. And man, she was so bad at it. I had to think of every porn scene I could remember just to com-"

"Shut the hell up!" Darren pushed past Steve and made his way to the other's bedroom, shaking his head in disgust. Steve had absolutely no idea when to zip his mouth.  
He entered the room slowly, carefully, looking around to see where the girl was. At first he couldn't find her, and he started to wonder if Steve had been hallucinating. Then he saw a pair of pale legs sticking out from the tiny, congested space between Steve's bed and the wall.

Yes. There was a girl wedged awkwardly in that little space. And Steve had just left her there instead of pulling her out.

Darren quickly pushed the bed aside only because he was feeling a bit better thanks to the medicine. His head still hurt like hell and he felt sick, but no way could he just leave someone like that. With a huff, Darren pulled the girl up (she was wet?) and let her go so she fell on the mattress. It didn't wake her up. Darren noticed Steve had come back inside the room and was just...watching him, arms folded across his chest.

"Asshole, you could've helped me."

"What, you need help moving a bed and picking a girl up? The fuck is all that football practice for if you can't do shit."

Darren muttered profanities under his breath, and Steve gave him the finger with each hand. There would've been a fist fight if the girl hadn't stirred and caught their attention.

Both of them paused, looked at each other, and then went closer to take a better look at her. Darren felt kind of, um, weird because she didn't really have any clothes on except for a bra and shorts, but Steve had no shame left in him and so matters of the like didn't bother him too much. They studied her as she slowly came to, her long red hair (which was obviously dyed, that color didn't occur naturally, as Steve pointed out) was open and spread around her head in a mess. A soft mess.

"God, I wonder what conditioner she uses." Steve murmured, earning a look from Darren.

They were so lost in studying her and waiting for her to wake up that when she did open her eyes, they had no idea what to do. But her reflexes certainly did.

Her fist flew up and connected to Steve's face in a sickening crunch. He fell aside with a grunt, and Darren backed away from her as she backed away on the bed from him.

"Hey! What the fuck?" Steve stood up almost immediately whilst gripping his jaw, and if Darren hadn't held him back he wouldn't have hesitated in returning the damn favor.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Her voice was thick, she had an accent. They couldn't really pinpoint where she was from by it though, because it was mild and only audible in fragments of her speech.

"Um, only the people who live here! Who the hell are you?" Steve replied bitterly, still gripping his jaw.

"I....Oh..."

Darren noticed the shock and tension evaporating from her as she nervously looked around. Of course, any girl would be conscious and alarmed if she was to wake up in the presence of two strangers, so her reaction was pretty natural. Steve was less reasonable and Darren already knew that the stranger had been added to Steve's long list of arch rivals (a list Darren was also part of). She inhaled, exhaled and calmed down before returning to the boys.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, getting off the bed, "I must've seen there was a party going on here and decided to let myself in."

"Do you usually do that?" Darren asked. She shrugged, silently answering him without actually clearing any of his doubts.  
That's when she seemed to notice her attire. Her smile dropped.

"My clothes...?"

"We found you like this."

Darren felt it would be better to lend her some clothes and let her freshen up. Normally, people who hosted such parties had no problem with people leaving looking like however the hell they did, but maybe it was the weird time and situation that made him feel like they should help her.  
While she went to the bathroom, Steve and Darren argued about who should give their clothes. To reach a consensus, Darren said they should give her a clothing article each. So a shirt from Darren and some old pajamas from Steve. So they did exactly that. The clothes fitted fine, although the pajamas were a little too wide for her.

"Fat ass." Darren chuckled at Steve.  
Steve hit him.

They expected her to leave after that, but she said she had to find something. This only further annoyed Steve but Darren offered to help her look for whatever she had lost. They disappeared back into the hall again.  
Steve was left in the living room by himself, and he had just been about to join the other two when the doorbell rang. It was Mr. Ver Leth, the landlord. God, Steve hated this guy.

"What?"

Mika Ver Leth raised an eyebrow.

"I mean...." Steve moved aside, letting the man come in. He rolled his eyes behind Mika's back.

"A party," Mr. Ver Leth started bitterly as his dark, beady eyes inspected the mess around them, "The other tenants complained last night, it's a shame I was out of city and couldn't attend to this matter in the moment."

And it was fucking great that you couldn't, Steve thought to himself.

"You have asked for more time regarding your rent two times in a row already. Two entire months!"

Why did these conversations always end on the topic of rent? If the sun exploded one day, Mika Ver Leth wouldn't run for cover, instead he'd chase after Steve and Darren to remind them that they hadn't paid the rent. For the record, Steve would rather have the end of the world over Mr. Ver Leth any day. 

"We're college students, man, working as much as we can and managing our studies! Shit's hard!"

"First, I doubt you study, let alone work," Mr. Ver Leth said, much to Steve's offense, "Second, I was not finished. You can have all these parties but can't pay rent? You used to be able to pay it on time before, the reason you can't do it now is because you're always wasting all the money away on these unethical gatherings!"

That was not true. This was just the second party Steve and Darren had thrown at their place. Sure, they did party a lot recently, but not specifically here. And college had just started a week ago and all Steve wanted to do was party as much as possible before things got serious. Then it'd be study time, for real.

"We don't need money to party." Steve shrugged.

"Nonsense! And I don't care what excuses you come up with this time, by the end of this month, you will give me this month's rent combined with the other two month's rent."

Steve's protests fell on deaf ears. Mr. Ver Leth was a stern, strict man who rarely- if ever- eased deadlines and gave extra time to his tenants. The past three months, Steve had been negotiating with Mr. Ver Leth's roommates Mr. Arrow and Paris, both of who were a bit kinder than Mika. They managed to convince him to not collect rent from Steve and Darren for a while- Steve had told them they needed time to "get back up" because they had just gone through something traumatic and lost a lot of their finances. He couldn't even remember the pity-story (totally made up by the way) he had narrated to them to gain sympathy. Oh well, if they ever asked a question relating to it Steve would just act really offended and start crying due to "resurfacing trauma". The easiest way to avoid confrontation, Steve had learned, was to make the other person super uncomfortable- a feat he usually achieved by shedding crocodile tears.

Mr. Ver Leth was just leaving when Darren walked back in with the mystery girl. He looked worried and she looked like she was going to cry any minute. And Mr. Ver Leth? He looked like he was going to explode once he saw the girl.

"I can't find my suitcase! It had all my things in it!" She wailed, it was right then that Darren noticed his landlord was there.  
Oh fuck.

"Who the hell brings their damn suitcase to a party like this?" Steve scoffed, still holding the door open for Mr. Ver Leth. 

"I was travellin-"

The landlord didn't let the conversation continue, as he requested Darren and Steve to talk to him outside. The two boys shared a look before nervously shuffling outside the apartment.

"Why is a girl in your apartment?" Mr. Ver Leth asked.

"It wouldn't be the first time?" Steve mumbled. Was this guy seriously losing his shit over a woman? If Candy was here, she'd say he was sexist.

"She better not be the "new roommate" the two of you were expecting. I won't allow such a living arrangement."

"Yeah, no! She's no-" Darren paused mid-sentence as Mr. Ver Leth's words settled in his mind. "Wait, new roommate?"

"New roommate..." Steve echoed.

Steve and Darren looked at each other.

"Fuck!"  
"Oh my god, Evra!"

How could they have forgotten that Evra was coming to see their apartment this evening? The place was a total mess, and their landlord was here (they might have...lied to Evra and said the landlord was a great, chill guy....because they really needed someone to move in with them.) Not that they'd have space for him. The apartment had two bedrooms, and one bathroom (not accessible by either of the bedrooms). They had mentioned that in the flyers, at least, and the fact that the new roommate would have to sleep on the couch. Evra was the only person who responded to the flyers, and while Steve had been offended at the lack of response, it didn't surprise Darren. Anyone who was willing to live with the two of them must be extremely desperate.

And so were they. They needed help with bills and rent, obviously. Steve had gotten fired from Hot Topic because he made fun of a bunch of customers. (In his defense, they were making tiktoks in a public place...cosplaying popular 16 year old characters doing sexual things. Yes. In public.) And Darren was let go from the library because they just didn't need any help anymore. As the two of them had found out the past couple of months, college and adult life wasn't at all what Hollywood made it out to be. Shocking.

Mr. Ver Leth left, shaking his head and muttering something about the "entitled youth these-days". The boys rushed in to clean their apartment up, and they found the mystery girl sitting with her head in her hands on their couch. She seemed pretty upset, reasonably. Darren, always the empath, looked at Steve with a I-think-we-should-help, but the other boy was not having it. They had far more important things to deal with. Steve waved his hand dismissively and started cleaning the lounge up. Darren sat next to the girl and rested a hand on her shoulder. She seemed to be new to town (as if he was one to talk, he'd just shifted too), and given her half-explanation earlier, she was probably travelling and thus had a suitcase with her. Now that it was lost, she probably lost a lot of important things, you know, visa and money and all that. It must have felt awfully alienating.

"I thought," she started unprompted, surprising Darren, "that winning the lottery would make life better. I thought I'd move in to some cute apartment close to my campus and....just...." she sighed heavily, but Darren and Steve were no longer interested in what she had to say; rather, they were fixated on what she had already mentioned as casually as possible.

"The lottery?" They asked in unison, totally not bothered about how evident the greed in their tone was.

Steve was suddenly more interested in the girl and left what he was doing. He joined the duo on the couch, next to Darren, leaning forward and a bit towards the girl so he could listen to her better. Both Darren and Steve suddenly had an awfully convenient yet positively selfish idea, although their reasons for it differed. Darren dreamt of paying off all the bills and rents, maybe leaving this dump and moving somewhere better, of living a more enriched life. Steve fantasized of dropping out of college to start investing and then launch a business that would make him even more rich, and he'd live in a fancy mansion in an expensive city, by the ocean where he'd throw crazy, talked-about-in-magazines kinda parties. Oh but first, of course, pay the rent they owed to that bastard Ver Leth.

Despite the very obvious green bulbs glowing atop the boys' heads, the girl remained oblivious to their shameless intentions. She remained in her cloud of gloom, sobbing quietly as Darren and Steve flashed brief expressions of joyous surprise to each other.

"Well......is there any way we can help you?" Steve, ever the gentleman, asked. Darren almost scoffed.

The girl sniffed and looked up at him before nodding slowly.  
"I lost my suitcase. I've got my wallet in there, so...also my credit card. I need that stuff back."

The boys felt their dreams shatter when they realized she didn't exactly have the check (or the credit card, it really depended on what she had done after winning) on her. But nonetheless, they'd at least help her find it. Out of the goodness of their hearts, of course.

The suitcase wasn't in the apartment, so Steve and the girl- who introduced herself as just "Maria", no last name or anything- went to search for it outside. She said she might have thrown it somewhere outside instead of bringing it inside to their flat, because she had already been kind of drunk when she got here. So Darren stayed back and made the apartment look better. If they found the suitcase- the money, especially- they'd have to let Evra go. The thought occurred to Darren just as the doorbell rang. He opened it quickly expecting to see Steve but no, it was a boy with strangely pale skin, strange skin-markings bedecking his oval face and long, green hair. Evra Von.

"Hey, uh, I'm here for the..." he never finished his sentence, just walked inside when Darren let him and let the sentence evaporate as he looked around.

"Nice place." He smiled. Darren mentally face-palmed. Awful, awful timing with everything. Was it some sort of curse?

Evra didn't need a tour guide to check the place out. Darren was a little shocked (and mildly offended) when the other boy started strutting here and there, in and out of rooms as if he already owned the damn place. Hell, Darren felt like Evra owned the apartment and he himself was the outsider. The interaction was awkward, too, but Evra hadn't really noticed the discomfort his body language and behavior was causing to his potential roommate. He was unsettling- not because of his eerie features or the cold look in his eyes- no, it was definitely something else. Darren was never one to judge a book by its cover.

As Evra went on to praise the apartment, the door was thrown open and a very enthusiastic Steve ran in- holding up a suitcase. He had been about to yell "We found it!" but stopped at "We f-" when he noticed Evra.

"You must be Steve." Evra smiled, to which Steve grinned hideously. Before the moment got any weirder, Darren had to step in.

"Look, Evra....."

"Oh, my friends just call me Ev."

"Right, Evra, so I'm so sorry about this but we've had so many people answer to the flyer and....you know...it'll be a tough decision but....we'll let you know if you made it tonight over text?"

Darren hoped Evra wouldn't be too upset, but he didn't even seem mildly upset. Just a little confused.

"But...I thought you guys had pretty much confirmed that I was moving in?"

Darren froze. Yes, they had. He remembered a phone call where Darren had specifically told him it was a done deal that he had the spot, maybe he even mentioned the fact that nobody else had even responded. Dammit. He didn't remember. How to evade such a moment?  
Thankfully, Steve Leonard was there, and what was he if not an expert liar?

"Oh no, I know what you're referring to!" Steve chirped, slapping a hand to his forehead in a "ohhhh I just realized" way. Maria walked in just at that moment, and Darren wondered what she had been doing. She was coming to join the group but paused when Darren signaled for her to leave the lounge. However, Evra had already noticed her, but Steve was still interacting with him and in the spur of confusion the Von boy seemed to forget about the girl.

Steve managed to convince Evra that the whole "spot guaranteed" was a big misunderstanding, but it still took a while and some effort to make Evra leave. Darren couldn't help but feel stupidly bad for the boy, because he had carried his bags and all here and genuinely looked excited to be there but....oh well. Life, right?

"I feel bad." Darren sighed once Evra had left.

Steve rolled his eyes but offered no comfort, quite a typical reaction from him. 

Maria came back into the lounge after making sure the weird boy had left. Apparently, everything in her suitcase had been stolen, but there was a hidden compartment that the thieves had left untouched. That was, luckily, where she had kept her wallet and a few other important things that Steve and Darren didn't care about. They also found out she was enrolled in the same university as them (obviously, given the fact that Brichester was one of the closest universities from where they were.) As she thanked them and prepared to leave, the boys shared a look. After silently mouthing "You do it.", "No you!" from out of her visual field, Darren accepted defeat and approached Maria. She looked up. 

"Hey...um, have you bought an apartment yet?" he cringed mentally. What an awkward way to start. Thankfully, she didn't think anything weird about that. 

"No. I still have to browse a safe, nice place to stay at." She answered. Darren looked back at Steve for help. Steve looked away. Darren imagined his soul giving Steve's soul the finger. 

"Well....you can stay with us." Darren blurted out as he turned back to Maria. She seemed understandably shocked by the invitation. Steve choked in the back. It was so wrong to have assigned the job to Darren, especially when Steve was aware of all the many instances in which his best friend displayed intense symptoms of Dumb Bitch Syndrome. 

"The neighborhood is safe and, uh, one of the best places in Brindleton Bay." Steve lied casually. 

They talked to her for a while about the community, adding a bit of "seasoning" here and there, and they lied about feeling sorry for her and wanting to welcome her here. Her expression remained dangerously neutral throughout the discussion, making the boys fear that she had seen right through their greed, but as they concluded their long-winded, well-disguised plea for her to join them, she broke into a smile. 

"That's the nicest thing that's ever happened to me so far! To be honest, I already felt a bond with you guys because you helped me find my stuff," she beamed. They talked for a while more before she openly accepted the invitation. They were on the verge of celebrating when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it now?" Steve huffed, trudging to the door and pulling it open. He was beyond annoyed to find not only Mr. Ver Leth, but also Paris and Mr. Arrow waiting at the doorstep. It took Steve a few moments once again to realize it was rude to just stare begrudgingly at guests (and contrary to what he'd read in the self-help book "Unwanted Guests", glaring at them after opening the door did not, in fact, ward off unwanted visitors. He wanted a damn refund). Steve moved aside to let them in because clearly, they weren't here to talk about things that were talked about at doorsteps.

Mr. Ver Leth let out a sound of victory when he spotted Maria still there.

"What did I tell you?" He turned to address his partners before asking the boys- Steve especially- a question. "She still has not left, why?"

"Because she's actually moving in now." Steve blurted out, earning three collective gasps from the older men.

"No! I will not have a lone girl living with two men! None of that business in my apartments, you hear me?" Mr. Ver Leth exploded, making Maria turn questioningly to Darren. Darren shrugged.

"Well guess what! You can't tell me what to do in my damn apartment as long as I pay for it!"

Silence. 

Mr. Ver Leth waited for Steve to realize the stupidity of his claim but instead he saw Steve's face turning smug- mistaking the silence of bafflement for speechlessness. How could someone be so stupid?

"You don't exactly pay the rent, now, do you, boy?"

It was a good feeling, watching Steve's determination melt off and leave behind only the evident dawning of a realization. He really needed to think twice before he spoke. Steve stammered to regain composure but Mr. Ver Leth was already pushing him aside and striding towards Darren and Maria (who still looked like she couldn't believe what was happening).

"You best leave, dear. Since I cannot let you live here, I simply cannot. It is against my code of conduct." Mr. Ver Leth's tone and expression was softer when compared to the manner in which he regarded and interacted with both the boys. It wasn't because she was a girl, but because he didn't hate her as much as he did the other two goons. Steve especially.

"But-"

"But there'd be no problem! You wouldn't have to worry about anything happening between the three of us." Darren gabbled.

"What? And why is that so?" Arrow grumbled.

"Because....well," Darren swallowed once, hoping Maria would just play along, "well, because she's lesbian."

Maria raised both her eyebrows and turned to Darren, but with a playful smile rather than a look of protest. She nodded at the three men to confirm Darren's claim.

"Wait, she is?" Steve (from the back, he was excluded from the conversation) asked, saddened, but he was ignored collectively when Arrow spoke over him.

"Her nationality doesn't have anything to do with this!" Arrow announced, incredulous that the boy would even bring the matter up. Did he seriously want them to believe that just because she was from a certain country she wouldn't engage in anything with either of them?  
Much like Steve, Arrow thought the looks he was receiving paired with the silence was only because he'd left them speechless with his powerful comment. His fantasy crumbled when Paris put a steady hand on his shoulder and reminded him with disappointment that it was Lebanese. The nationality was referred to as Lebanese.

When that confusion was cleared up (after which Arrow stayed dead silent), Mr. Ver Leth's skepticism of the situation decreased and he eased his wrath. The three men agreed to letting the girl live in the apartment. Mr. Ver Leth tossed his dark black hair over his shoulder before regarding Maria and reminding her that the bills needed to be paid on time and that she'd have to contribute. 

"I personally didn't think it was necessary for all this. So what if a girl lives here? As long as she's paying rent and is a respectable tenant..." Paris mumbled as the trio left the apartment. Mr. Ver Leth replied but it was inaudible because the door was shut after them and they were shuffling away. After they had gone, the three roommates exhaled deeply, letting go of a breath they'd unconsciously held on to ever since the beginning of their day. They plopped down on the couch together, Darren winced as he felt it creak and tremble under their weight, but they were too relaxed to bother about it. After a while, they burst into gentle chuckles, it started from Steve and traveled like a chain through Darren and to Maria. 

They laughed and talked away, unaware that soon, life as they knew it was about to change. Quite drastically.

**Author's Note:**

> NOT PROOF READ. Looking for beta readers if anyone is interested <3  
> Here is my tumblr btw, talk to me! [here](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/steveleoparddd)


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